Originally posted online on the fansite, "The E-Site" by Taj Mahal Ibrahim
Original URLs: http:// www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/lounge/6189/ or http://fly.to.alapaap/
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Excerpts from:
"Sunday Inquirer Magazine"; December 18, 1994
From Rock To Bagong Lumad
by: Eric S. Caruncho
Best Album -- The Eraserheads: Circus
The first post-alternative album? Whatever. Thanks mainly to singer and main songwriter Ely Buendia's lock on the pulse of the '90s Pinoy youth, and the band's much-improved studio chops, the Eraserheads managed to sidestep the dreaded sophomore slump and come up with a winner. If "Ultraelectromagneticpop!" was the band's "A Hard Day's Night," "Circus" is their "Rubber Soul." I can't wait to hear their "Sgt. Pepper." Are the Eraserheads the APO of the '90s? The Heads have the Da APO's pop smarts, plus something Jim Paredes and Co. never had (but which the Beatles did) -- a bit of underclass cheek. As rock critic Lester bangs used to say: Who woulda thunk it?
Best Song: "Trapo" by Yano, "Hey Jay" by the Eraserheads
Yup. It's a tie. "Trapo" makes it on account of the timeliness of its subject matter. Just imagine: it's election time in 1995, and suddenly Yano comes blasting out of the radio:"Jueteng at illegal logging/ May sideline, rape at kidnapping/ Dealer ng shabu at uzi/Kumander ng private army....Trapo, trapo ka kasi... Di na binoboto pero nananalo." On the other hand, "Hey Jay" is an absolutely cliche-free pop song. It's not about homosexuality or homophobia, it's about a guy named Jay, and is the only local song I've heard that manages to humanize gay men. Plus, it's not great hooks.
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